Following the
suspension of two career prosecutors, the U.S. Department of Justice quietly revised a sentencing memo in a high-profile case — removing all references to the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and President Donald Trump’s social media post that may have led an armed man to Barack Obama’s home.
The abrupt revision,
filed just one day after the original memo, deepens concerns that the Trump-led DOJ is manipulating official court records to rewrite the history of January 6 and punish those who refuse to go along.
The case centers on
Taylor Franklin Taranto, a former January 6 defendant pardoned by Trump who was later convicted of weapons and hoax charges after being arrested near the Obamas’ home in 2023 with firearms and ammunition in his van.
Two D.C. prosecutors, Carlos Valdivia and Samuel White, filed the first sentencing memo on October 28. Within hours, both were placed on administrative leave and locked out of their DOJ accounts.
The next morning, the filing was replaced by a
nearly identical version — this time signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Travis Wolf for Jeanine Pirro, the former Fox News host now serving as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.